Synopsis for "Creature of the Night"

Batman tracks down a serial mugger that has been stalking victims in the Park Row section of Gotham City. While he investigates the case, his mind reels back to his childhood.

When he was four-years-old, Bruce fell through a cistern on the Wayne estate and discovered the cavern that would one day become the Batcave. Soon after this event, Alfred Pennyworth came to work for Thomas and Martha Wayne.

When Bruce was eight-years-old, he was returning home from the movies with his parents, when a mugger, Joe Chill, accosted them, killing both Thomas and Martha Wayne. This event would drive Bruce towards an isolated existence and a life spent studying the law. Using his knowledge of computers, he manipulated the local bureaucracy allowing him to become the sole ward of Alfred Pennyworth. Child psychiatrist, Leslie Thompkins soon became a frequent fixture at the Wayne estate helping young Bruce through his darkest years.

As an adult, Bruce traveled the world, learning various crime-fighting skills from venerable masters. All of these would one day become part of the arsenal of the Batman.

Notes

In October of 1994, all of the existing mainstream DC Comics titles released a special "0" issue to coincide with the Zero Hour crossover event. The purpose of the "0" issue was to reveal a previously unknown aspect of the title character's background. DC Titles under the Vertigo imprint were largely unaffected by Zero Hour and thus, no "0" issue specials were published for them.

Unlike previous versions of Batman's origin, this version establishes that the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne remains unidentified to this day. In Pre-Zero Hour continuity, the man responsible for the double murder was Joe Chill. This story renders Batman: Year Two apocryphal.

The events from this issue or series are related to Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time!, or its successor event Zero Month. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Zero Hour category.